Trudeau Names 35 Parliamentary Secretaries, Including 3 To Work With Him

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have three parliamentary secretaries working with him when action in the House of Commons resumes this week.

On Wednesday, Trudeau named 35 parliamentary secretaries who will assist his cabinet and answer questions on behalf of ministers absent from the House of Commons. The job comes with a pay bump of $16,600 on top of the base MP salary of $167,400.

Considered junior ministers, high-performing parliamentary secretaries often get promoted to the front bench. It's also a pretty decent consolation prize for those passed over for cabinet.

Celina Caesar-Chavannes, a rookie MP from the Ontario riding of Whitby, has been named parliamentary secretary to the prime minister. The appointment means Caesar-Chavannes will likely have to answer for Trudeau when he is outside of the Commons — and possibly even when he is.

Justin Trudeau looks on as Celina Caesar-Chavannes speaks at a campaign event during the 2014 byelection in Whitby. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

Former Conservative MP Paul Calandra last held the job and was repeatedly accused of obfuscating in question period. Liberals are promising a new tone in Parliament and Caesar-Chavannes will expected to help deliver.

Toronto MP Adam Vaughan has been named parliamentary secretary to the prime minister (intergovernmental affairs). A former journalist and Toronto city councillor, Vaughan was first elected federally in a 2014 byelection and handily defeated former NDP MP Oliva Chow in October.

Vaughan was considered a contender to crack Trudeau's first cabinet, but Toronto colleagues Bill Morneau, Chrystia Freeland, and Carolyn Bennett were chosen instead.

Peter Schiefke, a new MP from the Quebec riding of Vaudreuil–Soulanges, has been named parliamentary secretary to the prime minister (youth). Schiefke, who is in his 30s, co-founded Youth Action Canada, an organization that encourages young people to fight climate change.

Cabinet omissions get positions

While three parliamentary secretaries may seem like a lot, Trudeau appears to be following in the footsteps of former PM Paul Martin who also used three and assigned some specific areas of focus.

Current Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains served as Martin's secretary in 2005 and 2006, and Treasury Board President Scott Brison was his parliamentary secretary with an emphasis on Canada-U.S. relations from 2003 to 2004.

Some key names passed over for Trudeau's first cabinet have also been named parliamentary secretaries.

Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair, elected in the Toronto riding of Scarborough Southwest, will serve as one of two parliamentary secretaries to the minister of justice and Attorney General of Canada. Blair will help Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould tackle a number of big files, including the promised legalization of marijuana and right-to-die legislation.

Vancouver MP Joyce Murray, a former British Columbia environment minister who ran against Trudeau for the Liberal leadership in 2013, will be parliamentary secretary to Scott Brison, the president of the Treasury Board.

First-time MP Karen McCrimmon, who represents the Ottawa riding of Kanata-Carleton, will be parliamentary secretary to Kent Hehr, the minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence. A former lieutenant colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, she also ran for the Liberal leadership.

Some key names were nowhere to be found in the list of secretaries Trudeau tweeted Wednesday, including former Liberal cabinet ministers Judy Sgro, Wayne Easter, and Hedy Fry. Veteran MP David McGuinty, brother of former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, was also not appointed.